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00:00My name is Dennis Figg. I run the security for World Wrestling, and one of our wrestlers that lives down
00:04there is Missing.
00:05Okay, and what's his name?
00:07Chris Benoit.
00:08Chris Benoit was considered by many of us in the business of being one of the greatest workers in wrestling.
00:13He was nicknamed the Rabid Wolverine, the Canadian Crippler.
00:16They tried to reach his wife, Nancy. She doesn't answer. They tried to call his house.
00:19I plan on ruling the wrestling world.
00:22She was in love. More in love than I'd ever, ever seen her in my life.
00:25This was during Chris and Nancy's wedding. Daniel was the best man, of course.
00:30All right, we'll go ahead and send somebody out there to check on it.
00:33While the wrestling world in shock today, former champion Chris Benoit found dead in his Atlanta home along with his
00:38wife and young son.
00:39Police now treating the discovery as a double murder-suicide.
00:43On June 25, 2007, Chris Benoit's brutal murder of his wife and son dominated the news cycle, leaving the world
00:50searching for answers.
00:52Going over it in my mind, like, why did this happen? How did it happen? Could have been stopped.
00:56Authorities say Benoit strangled his wife and suffocated his son before hanging himself in their home.
01:02The term that's been being thrown around everywhere is roid rage.
01:06When you look at Chris or Benoit's brain, it is, in fact, shocking.
01:10For over a decade, those closest to the killings have been left traumatized and desperate for closure.
01:16For the first time, friends and family have come together to tell the story in their own words.
01:20Chris was just this gentle giant, and I could never have imagined that he could hurt someone.
01:26He was probably the greatest wrestler that's ever loved.
01:29And to have that same person have murdered your family, that's not an easy statement for me to make.
01:34That's not the Chris that I knew. There's so many details that are so crazy to understand.
01:39I need to talk about this. If you don't want to hear it, if you're going to give me shit
01:42about it later,
01:43and say I'm glorifying a murderer, stop listening now.
01:58All right, you ready?
02:02Let's rock.
02:03All right, so first, can you tell us who you are?
02:06I'm David Benoit, son of Chris Benoit.
02:09He's one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, I believe.
02:13And there's the crosshatch!
02:14Oh no!
02:14He's lost on his hands here!
02:18That was just his job.
02:20As soon as he got off the road, he was just dad.
02:22That was it.
02:23No matter what.
02:27My grandfather took him to his very first show in Edmonton.
02:31And then he saw the Dynamite Kid.
02:33Against the Dynamite Kid, also 2-14 from Liverpool.
02:39And then he was like, yep, that's what I want to do.
02:41My dad, he looked up to him.
02:43That was his idol.
02:46He emulated him.
02:48His work ethic.
02:49Nothing like it.
02:51And then he would do his signature flying headbutt.
02:55He would climb up to the top rope, jump up, spread eagle.
03:00And then Kinect.
03:04Busted his ass in the ring every single night.
03:06Gave it 120%, no matter what.
03:11I got my very first Nintendo.
03:13And I had WCW mayhem.
03:16And I played as him.
03:19Chris Benoit was on the radar as a pro wrestler since, gosh, the 80s.
03:24I'm Jim Ross.
03:26Got in wrestling in 1974.
03:28I'm now the senior advisor to AEW.
03:32I'm a wrestling fan.
03:33So if you're a wrestling fan, how could you not be a fan of Chris Benoit's work?
03:38He's always considered one of the best workers ever.
03:40Even when he's young, he was just a natural.
03:43My name is Chris Jericho.
03:45I've been wrestling for a long time, almost 30 years.
03:48Watching Chris Benoit was one of the reasons why I really enjoyed Stampede Wrestling.
03:52And why I started really thinking, maybe I can do this.
03:56Benoit's a rookie, but he does have the moves.
03:59To watch Stampede Wrestling, you could tell that the guys were smaller guys.
04:02They were not as tall as the Giants that you could find in the WWF.
04:06I thought, wow, they're kind of my size.
04:09So in that aspect, someone like Chris Benoit was kind of an early influence on me.
04:17The most intense and believable performer I've ever been in the ring with.
04:23He could see things that would happen before they happened.
04:27His first job was wrestling, and his last job was wrestling.
04:30All he ever did was wrestling.
04:32The only thing he ever got a paycheck from was wrestling.
04:36I was a huge fan of Chris Benoit right off the get-go.
04:40He's the ultimate performer.
04:42Dean Malenko.
04:43He wrestled for ECW, WCW, and of course, WWF slash WWE.
04:49Chris was a very quiet, very reserved, you know, very serious guy.
04:53And kind of like into his own little world at times.
04:55But when the red light went on and that bell rang, Chris Benoit was a whole nother person.
05:00Extremely focused.
05:01Probably one of the most focused individuals I've ever seen in any sport for that matter.
05:05Chris took nothing less than being perfect.
05:12I did a few tours with Benoit over in Japan, and we had a match.
05:15I gave him a spin kick, and I didn't hit him in the head with it, nor should you.
05:19It's wrestling.
05:19You work together to put on a show.
05:21He felt like he took it the wrong way.
05:23He felt that he exposed the business with his ineptitude.
05:27Meanwhile, I bet you nobody noticed anything, because a quick kick goes by.
05:29You take a bump.
05:30It's not on TV.
05:31Who cares?
05:32He cared.
05:37I found him in the back doing hack squats, like Hindu squats, where you just go up and down.
05:42One, two.
05:43And I go, what's wrong?
05:44He's like, I messed up that kick, and, you know, I have to do squats now.
05:48I'm like, why?
05:49Who told you to do squats?
05:50Are you in trouble?
05:51Like, no.
05:52I'm just doing them on my own.
05:53I screwed up.
05:54I'm doing 500 squats.
05:57That was him.
05:58It's like he had to purge himself and punish himself for making this minor mistake.
06:04That to him was everything.
06:05And Eddie was like that, too.
06:09Wrestling fans, of course, all know who Eddie Guerrero is.
06:12To many in the wrestling world, he's considered as one of the absolute best wrestlers of all time.
06:19I'm Chavo Guerrero Jr., third-generation professional wrestler from the legendary Guerrero family.
06:25When Eddie was about 18, he started really training for wrestling.
06:30He started wrestling all over Mexico and then transitioned into Japan and became one of their top stars and was
06:36called Black Tiger.
06:38He was this tall Mexican guy with long hair and cowboy boots and pants that were tight, and I loved
06:45his ass, and I thought he was the most gorgeous guy.
06:48My name is Vicki Guerrero.
06:50I am a former WWE superstar, and I fell in love with Eddie.
06:57He loved wrestling.
06:58He ate it.
06:59He dreamt it.
07:00He was always doing promos in the bathroom mirror.
07:03He was always showing me, hey, can I try this move on you and tell me if it hurts?
07:08Those were kind of fun days in the bed.
07:10I mean, I'm not going to lie.
07:11Those were good times.
07:14Super nice, very friendly, would give you the shirt off his back, like literally.
07:19Like you could just tell the sweetness just exuded from this guy.
07:22A little bit crazy, as any wrestler can be, especially from that generation.
07:28Very small, though.
07:29When we were in Japan, the referee, Hattori, used to call him the Mexican Flamingo.
07:34Big, big upper body, small leg.
07:38Like, I think Chris and Eddie first met in Japan, if I'm not mistaken.
07:44They beat the shit out of each other, almost like they owed each other a lot of money.
07:52Eddie would call me and be like, man, I can't stand this asshole.
07:56Like, he's such a prick, and, you know, I can't believe I have to work with him for the next
08:00week or two.
08:04I think even in today's world of wrestling, every company out there, they all go back and watch those matches.
08:12Those guys were, like, way ahead of the time.
08:15I really wanted to be like those guys, you know?
08:18Like, that's why my name was Lionheart for so long.
08:23Lionheart!
08:25Because I wanted to be an animal, like those guys.
08:28Eddie was Black Tiger.
08:29Chris was Pegasus' kid, Wild Pegasus.
08:31Get with him!
08:33Those two just saw things differently, and that was part of what made them so fucking great.
08:40The more they fought, I think the more that they started, you know, respecting each other.
08:44They hit it off, and they ended up just, you know, being the best of friends.
08:53These particular earrings are a pair that my sister wore as a woman on WCW.
08:59I decided that I would wear what she thought would look good on camera.
09:05My name is Sandra Taffeloni, and I am the only sibling of Nancy Benoit.
09:12My sister, Nancy, just married right out of high school.
09:16Her first husband was a huge wrestling fan, and got her to go into the matches, and she really liked
09:21it.
09:22There was a moment where, I don't know if it was a promoter or another manager that picked her out
09:28of the crowd.
09:29You know, she's a beautiful woman.
09:31The first time, it was just kind of like a weekend thing, and then it turned into something else.
09:37She met Kevin Sullivan in Florida Championship Wrestling.
09:40Hey, let me tell you something!
09:45He's probably one of the greatest promoters and bookers that's ever worked in wrestling.
09:50Kevin Sullivan, who was this satanic character, and he was satanic because he shaved an X into his chest hair
09:56and put makeup on, you know.
09:58That was about the extent of his Satanism, you know.
10:01He wore a hood.
10:03And they had an instant connection as friends, and then not shortly after that, we're falling in love.
10:10She was already in the process of divorcing her first husband.
10:15To Kevin, he had this idea in his head to grow this gimmick of, he's the Prince of Darkness, and
10:23he has this army of darkness behind him.
10:27And Nancy, by his side, is the fallen angel.
10:31Welcome to Polynesian Pro Wrestling.
10:32I'm Angel, your co-host, and here's my master, Kevin Sullivan.
10:35You know, Angel, you've done a fine job.
10:38The name, Fallen Angel, came from the Uriah Heap album.
10:42And the cover of it had this beautiful woman in a leatherish bikini with feathers and a sword.
10:50And she looks at that cover and said, man, that's the gimmick.
10:54She was good at what she did.
10:56Probably one of the first that really understood the art of being a valet or second, so to speak.
11:03She's an instrumental part in getting heat, as we like to sing.
11:08People would stop her.
11:10They recognized her.
11:11They believed she was possessed.
11:14She'd be getting gas, and they would come over and be like, we're just going to lay hands on you
11:18and pray.
11:19Pray for your soul.
11:19And she loved it, because she knew, if they hate me, I'm absolutely doing my job.
11:26Because she wasn't a wrestler, but she was very valuable as a ringside performer.
11:31And that's a lost art.
11:33Now, there's no such thing, right?
11:35Every girl in the business has to be a wrestler.
11:37She wasn't that, but she probably knew the business better than most.
11:41She did Kevin's makeup.
11:42She did her own makeup.
11:44She did everything, the hair, the staging, the clothes.
11:47Guys would break their tights.
11:49Nancy would be there with thread and needle.
11:51We had duffel bags full of boa constrictors all around us.
11:55In the beginning, how would you describe their dynamic, like what they saw in each other, do you think?
11:59Nancy and Kevin's?
12:00Yeah.
12:00Oh, man.
12:01You know, he worshipped her, and she was all in with him.
12:04She was in love.
12:06And their dynamic was awesome.
12:09So they moved to WCW.
12:11It was a big step up, obviously, so, from what they were doing.
12:19WCW.
12:21Where the big boys play.
12:24Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero were the three amigos.
12:28All three of them came to WCW together.
12:31All three of them came to WCW together.
12:31What did they call this guy up north?
12:32The Canadian Cribbler?
12:34Oh, my goodness!
12:36Did you see that?
12:37Kevin was a booker at the time.
12:39Booking productions, booking talent for storylines.
12:42Everyone kept talking about this really great technical wrestler that was coming out.
12:47I knew he was new to the company, and I know that my brother-in-law wanted to book him.
12:52I just knew Nancy is the fallen angel character.
12:55Then getting to WCW, she was woman.
12:59I am woman.
13:01So, men, look at it, wish you had it, and eat your heart out.
13:07Woman was the one character she was attached to, because it was most, like, her actual personality.
13:12I'm gonna watch your every move, Ric Flair.
13:15I'll see you at the Clash, big boy.
13:20She's independent, she takes nothing from anyone, and it's gotta help you if you get
13:25in her way.
13:26Ow!
13:27This one's for you.
13:29I know Kevin really, really liked Chris, really enjoyed working with him.
13:33And at that time, Kevin was booking Chris and himself into matches, and Nancy kind of
13:40became a part of it.
13:41Things were kind of happening a little weird, but nobody really knew what was going on.
13:45Kevin Sullivan!
13:47It started out as you and I, and then you brought Nancy into it.
13:52The joke in the business is that always that Kevin Sullivan booked his own divorce.
13:56It's funny to a point, and then it's kind of not funny at all, because I'm certain that
14:01it was not meant to happen.
14:12Starting in WCW, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, who all came in together, they
14:19loved it.
14:20They were happy when they were, you know, getting some props, because even them being smaller,
14:24in a sense, they were the workhorses.
14:27You could always count on them.
14:29Benoit takes flight!
14:30He is on tire with a swan dive!
14:33So Kevin Sullivan, the booker, the story maker, writes the story and has this idea to
14:40have woman, who is Nancy, leave Kevin's side and start going with Kevin's arch rival, who is Chris Benoit.
14:48What's it feel like losing the most important thing that you ever had?
14:54WCW would film vignettes with Chris and Nancy being intimate together.
15:00I'll tell you what, it sure feels great, Ganey.
15:06What they didn't plan for is that that really happened.
15:10Nancy left Kevin Sullivan to go with Chris Benoit.
15:14Kevin was used to her always being there and kind of being his right-hand person.
15:19And with her focusing on her own career, I think there were strains there.
15:24There were a couple of physical altercations in the house, fights that escalated.
15:30Nancy would reach out to Chris whenever she would have a bad night with Kevin.
15:34And Chris was her safe haven, you know, where she would go, wherever he was at.
15:39Chris was going through problems with his wife at the time, so two people kind of gravitating toward each other
15:44because they were, you know, having difficulties.
15:48So I got a call from my husband telling me that Nancy has had some problems and could I help
15:56her?
15:57I was working in a psychiatrist's office and Chris brought her in to see me.
16:02And she came in and removed her sunglasses and she had a huge black eye.
16:08She told me Kevin had done that to her.
16:10And I just told her that I, you know, I'm going to help you in any way we can.
16:14We need to document this.
16:17I was really hoping to try to help her get out of that abusive relationship.
16:20I just saw it as being this, it was going to blow up.
16:25Bash at the Beach was in Daytona Beach at the Ocean Center.
16:29It was Kevin Sullivan going against Chris.
16:33It was a great match.
16:35I thought this looked super realistic.
16:37And then at one point, Chris and Kevin were really, started exchanging blows.
16:42Chris hit Kevin really hard on the side of the head and it broke his eardrum.
16:50The match ended, but the fight continued backstage.
16:56And I was called out to go backstage.
16:59I started to walk towards Kevin and Chris was like, no, no, don't do that.
17:03And Kevin's yelling from the other end of the hallway, come on, come on, come with me, come with me,
17:07we're leaving.
17:08Chris handed me the phone and it was my sister on the other end.
17:11She's like, Sandra, get out of there.
17:13Come home, come to the condo.
17:16Just go with Chris.
17:17Do not go with Kevin.
17:19And I always do what my sister says, so that's what I did.
17:22No explanation needed.
17:25I went to the condo and my sister came out to talk to me and she was visibly, physically hurt.
17:30She explained to me that her injuries were from Kevin and that Chris had helped her and that she was
17:37leaving Kevin.
17:38I told her she had to.
17:48Chris was a nice person and all I knew about him was that he helped my sister in a time
17:53that she really needed it.
17:54So for that, he instantly had my thanks and my admiration.
17:59And she was in love, more in love than I'd ever, ever seen her in my life.
18:03The way they looked at each other, we were like, oh yeah, it's gonna work.
18:07And Nancy and I became master friends.
18:10Chris decided that he wanted to push his career forward a little bit.
18:14And then she just really, really, really wanted to focus on building the house and starting a family.
18:21And then all of the sudden, Daniel was born.
18:26I've never seen Chris so beyond himself, just excited.
18:34This is my favorite page because this was during Chris and Nancy's wedding and Daniel was the best man, of
18:41course.
18:42This is the love that Chris and Nancy always had.
18:47And then here's them feeding Daniel after they got married.
18:51And Nancy being the princess that she was.
18:55And David was there too, Chris's oldest.
18:59David is the son of Chris Benoit from Chris's first marriage.
19:02Hi guys.
19:03Nancy, she treated me like I was her own kid.
19:05We didn't use the word step in our family, you know.
19:11We were family.
19:12We went and had fun.
19:14Went to Chuck E. Cheese with Daniel and Nancy.
19:17And you know, it was good times.
19:20This is my very favorite photo of David and Daniel.
19:26It's flippin' adorable.
19:27I mean, that's what siblings are.
19:30You hang on to one another and hope for the best for each other.
19:35You look up to me, you know.
19:37I loved him.
19:38I protected him.
19:40We wanted to be tag team champions.
19:42That's what we wanted to do.
19:44Be the tag team champions of the world together.
19:53So in WCW, there was definitely a ceiling that you would reach.
19:59The bigger guys were getting all the TV spotlights.
20:03If you weren't like seven foot tall and huge muscles, you know, you didn't get the main event.
20:10Chris was getting a little irritated about the situation happening at WCW at the time.
20:15And never seeing ourself in a main event spot because we kept getting pushed down.
20:19So we decided to take a walk.
20:21I cannot believe this.
20:22Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko on WWF Raw.
20:27They walked out.
20:28WWF picked them up in one second.
20:30And the rest is history.
20:31And Benoit on top.
20:33And Benoit on top.
20:35Oh my God.
20:35When all three of them got to WWE, then you really saw the strengths.
20:40High line, high cheap, high steel.
20:44Their intelligence for the business and their view of the business and seeing like we see this, they saw this.
20:51Eddie became one of the best characters of all time as well as being one of the best in-ring
20:55champions.
20:56And Benoit became just this killer, you know, no-nonsense Clint Eastwood performer.
21:01It was like Dirty Harry.
21:02Go ahead.
21:03Make my day.
21:04Benoit.
21:04He's a rabid Wolverine.
21:06I'm telling you, Chris Benoit's witness.
21:09Chris Benoit's been a main eventer for years.
21:11It was only the matter that he was too short.
21:14Perceived as too short.
21:15Imagine that.
21:17Benoit's a magnificent, extraordinary athlete.
21:20I always thought, man, getting Benoit here is going to create these great match-ups.
21:24And it did.
21:25It was a no-brainer.
21:27Good boy.
21:29But also, Chris was always very much a great father.
21:32You know, very much about his family.
21:34His kids were always high up on his list.
21:37When Daniel got a little older, Chris would bring them to the ring.
21:41And of course, any time when Chris brought the kids around, we'd all play with them.
21:46It really pained him when he had to miss certain things.
21:50I remember at one point, I said something along the lines of, like, I've got to be home on Halloween.
21:54And he's like, man, I wish I could go home for Halloween, but I've got to work.
21:57And I miss Father's Day too.
21:58And I was like, dude, we'll just get those days off.
22:02And it's almost like he didn't want to ask for days off.
22:07Because, you know, sacrificing for his art, I guess he would say.
22:11And there's a similarity between Chris and Eddie in that both of them sacrificed a lot for their art.
22:19Chris and Eddie basically gave their life for pro wrestling.
22:30For Eddie, wrestling was everything.
22:33God was first.
22:34And then family and wrestling were a close second.
22:38You know, sometimes we'd be in the locker room and Eddie's naked in the locker room reading scripture to other
22:44wrestlers and telling them about God.
22:46Chris wasn't religious at all.
22:48And Eddie was the one that started introducing him about God.
22:52And Chris was very receptive, and he always listened to Eddie.
22:56And Eddie had even given him a Bible one Christmas.
23:00And Chris always had that on him, and that was something that meant a lot to Eddie.
23:05To always be a witness to Chris, you know, and to help him try and find his higher power.
23:10Chris was very quiet, very reserved, and it took a while for him to trust somebody.
23:16Eddie would be his go-to guide.
23:17He'd go and talk to them about certain things, you know, whether it be marriage problems or family or professional
23:22problems.
23:23They'd always confide in each other, and that's what their friendship was.
23:26And I know that Chris didn't have that with a lot of people.
23:30Chris, he was blowing up.
23:31He was getting bigger as a wrestler.
23:34And to have Nancy behind him, he was really happy.
23:38She was the driving force and motivation, sort of taking care of everything else that wasn't related to wrestling.
23:47She wanted him to be happy and to be successful and to be with his best friend.
23:52Eddie was injured a lot.
23:54He had a lot of pain and a lot of injuries that, you know, he couldn't get operations for.
23:59Eddie Guerrero is legal!
24:00Throw a blast!
24:01Caught it!
24:02It could be over!
24:03And as a wrestler, you never say that you need time off because as soon as you're off TV for
24:08four or six months,
24:09you know, someone else is going to come and replace you.
24:11And that was something that was always in Eddie's mind, you know.
24:15I was like, I can't stop now.
24:16King, I think Eddie Guerrero is seriously hurt.
24:18Everything he did was wrestling, even to the point where I know he was in a lot of pain,
24:23but he still wanted to wrestle.
24:25That's what he does.
24:26That's what he did.
24:27That's who he was.
24:28And there was also a lot of...
24:29I mean, let's be honest.
24:30We're all adults.
24:31We're all did the same shit.
24:31There's a lot of drinking.
24:32There's a lot of drugs.
24:34But the more that Eddie was trying to hide his injuries with the drugs and the alcohol,
24:39it was just getting into a downward spiral.
24:45You know, I saw Chris several different times to make sure that Eddie was tucked in bed okay,
24:49you know, and put on his side so he wouldn't throw up on himself.
24:52But then Eddie started getting DUIs and crashing his car and, you know, having overdose problems.
25:03There was three ODs that Eddie did in our house.
25:06The first two, I called the ambulance.
25:08And all they did was release him the next afternoon.
25:11They just sent him home.
25:13The third time, I just let him lay there.
25:19I actually left and took the girls to school and just told God,
25:24if you're going to take him, just take him now because it was a bad place in my life.
25:32A lot of Russes were dying from substance abuse issues.
25:36And in the back of your mind, always you're like, man, is Eddie going to be one of those?
25:40Is he going to be a statistic?
25:42Eddie showed up to work high one day where he was in bad shape.
25:45And I think that when they saw that and Eddie couldn't perform,
25:49that's when they said, we're going to go ahead and let you go.
25:51He called me and said, well, I got fired.
25:54I finally was like, well, thank God.
25:56I mean, because now the worst that could ever be imagined is happening.
26:02They sent him to rehab, lost everything,
26:04and had to go from the depths of hell and work his way up the system again.
26:11Little by little, he started changing his life to get clean.
26:15After that, his wife came back, his family came back, his life came back.
26:19And that's where Eddie got rehired from WWE and things were great.
26:24He was in the best shape.
26:27WrestleMania 20, the fans knew the history of Eddie and Chris.
26:32So the night in New York, it's the right time for both of these guys.
26:36Me and Nancy were watching from the skybox.
26:39We were jittery, and we were nervous, and we were excited,
26:42and we were stressed, too, because we didn't know, you know,
26:45if they were going to win or what the outcome was.
26:47Just tap it! Wait a minute! The boomer flying!
26:50Flip came off! Look at this!
26:52Swap against one, two, three!
26:54When Eddie won, it was pure joy.
26:57Vinwa going up to the top!
26:59Oh, no! He hit it, Ron!
27:01See my dad in the ring? He was my hero.
27:03Your wife's primary time!
27:06Oh! Counterfeit!
27:07I remember, like, yesterday, man.
27:09Vinwa ripping it down!
27:11Jumped up after he won the belt.
27:16Nancy and I were crying, and the girls were excited.
27:18And, of course, you see the confetti and, you know,
27:20all the fans just on their feet.
27:22And then I got to see Eddie Guerrero go out there.
27:25Best friend.
27:27What a moment.
27:28I'll never forget that.
27:32That's why that's one of the best moments in,
27:34not just wrestling history, I think, TV history.
27:37It was the happy storybook ending of WrestleMania.
27:41You know, thank God the office finally
27:43saw those guys for what they were.
27:49It was my favorite time, my favorite match.
27:52I wish those two just retired right after that,
27:55to be honest with you.
28:06I have never, ever seen a closer relationship
28:10or a friendship between two wrestlers
28:13as I did between Chris and Eddie.
28:16It was an actual, real, no-bullshit,
28:19out-of-the-ring, caring relationship.
28:23So, there's a super show in Minneapolis.
28:27We got a flight to Minneapolis.
28:28It was a few hours.
28:29So, Eddie's sitting there talking to me,
28:31and then he kind of just...
28:32He kind of passes out.
28:35Sleeps.
28:35And I'm like,
28:36well, I didn't know that this had been happening to Eddie.
28:38He started talking to people
28:40and passed out in the middle of a sentence.
28:44So, we get off the plane in Minneapolis,
28:47check into our hotel that we always go to,
28:48and we had seen Chris in the lobby also.
28:51Say, I'll see you down in the morning.
28:53Okay.
28:547 o'clock, and we're gonna go work out.
28:56It's set.
28:57You know, three of us together.
28:58It's just the way it was.
28:59Eddie goes to his room.
29:00I go to my room.
29:02Next morning, I get a call about 5.30.
29:06It's the front desk.
29:07Something's wrong with your uncle.
29:09I mean, something's wrong with my uncle.
29:11So, I get a knock on my door.
29:13Security guard.
29:14He's taking me into Eddie's room.
29:16I go, what's going on?
29:17He goes, well, your uncle didn't...
29:19He didn't answer his wake-up call.
29:21So, we came to his room and knocked.
29:24No answer.
29:25With a latch on, that means someone's in here.
29:27So, they cut the latch off.
29:29I walk in, and I look in the bathroom, and I see Eddie face down.
29:34He's in his underwear.
29:35His toothbrush was in his hand.
29:39I grab him.
29:40I kind of try to shake him, and he's moving.
29:43And I hear him gurgling.
29:47Like...
29:49And I'm like, Eddie!
29:50Eddie!
29:51Wiping his face.
29:52And he's like...
29:58He's still there, man.
29:59And we're trying, and then all of a sudden, he's in my arms, and he's not there anymore.
30:10He passed in my arms.
30:13Like, literally, uh...
30:15Hold on.
30:24I haven't been to this moment in a long time.
30:37Then...
30:37I get a call...
30:39From Chris.
30:40And Chris goes,
30:41Hey man, I'm downstairs.
30:42Where are you?
30:43Hey man, are you sitting down?
30:45He goes, yeah.
30:45And I go, um...
30:47Eddie passed away this morning.
30:48And all you hear is, uh...
30:50From a guy with no emotion whatsoever.
30:52You hear...
30:53A wail.
31:01Just this...
31:02Wail...
31:03From deep down, like a heartbreak.
31:06If you've ever heard one, this was heartbreaking.
31:11And Vince called me.
31:14And he said...
31:15I go, Vicki.
31:17And he's just crying.
31:19I'm just like...
31:20I go, is it true that Eddie's passed away?
31:23And he said...
31:24I'm sorry.
31:30Chris went over there and kind of knelt down.
31:32And just steady on the forehead.
31:33I went over there and...
31:34You know, kind of like the same thing.
31:36It was hard.
31:37I mean...
31:38I mean, here's a buddy that you've been with for...
31:41Eight, ten years.
31:42Every day, pretty much.
31:47And there wasn't really any sign that, obviously, he had relapsed.
31:51He didn't relapse.
31:52The verdict was...
31:54Heart disease.
31:55At 38.
31:57I remember the day that my sister called me hysterical.
32:00I couldn't even understand her.
32:01You need to take some breaths.
32:03And you need to tell me what's going on.
32:04She couldn't even get the words out.
32:05I mean, she told me.
32:06I just...
32:06I burst into tears.
32:08And I thought about the kids.
32:10And Vicky really...
32:11You know, just a flash in my head.
32:14And then...
32:15My next thought was...
32:17Oh, my God, Chris.
32:22Eddie Guerrero has passed away.
32:24The tribute that WWE did...
32:26Couldn't have been any better.
32:29Yeah, the whole stage was filled with everyone from backstage.
32:32But all I could remember was Chris.
32:34He was just crying.
32:36Now we know that I love you.
32:38And I miss you.
32:43One by one, they took different talent.
32:45They wanted to talk about Eddie.
32:46Eddie's passing.
32:47Eddie's life.
32:48And Chris did it.
32:49Which is probably really difficult to do.
32:52Chris had a hard time getting through it.
32:53I want to thank you from my heart.
32:56And tell you that I love you.
32:57And I'll never forget you.
32:59And now we'll see each other again.
33:02I love you, Eddie.
33:08I believe it was very hard for him.
33:10You know?
33:11I even cried after for him.
33:14Funerals are never good.
33:16But Eddie's funeral was very hard.
33:18When I saw Benoit, he...
33:20Man.
33:21He came and gave me a hug.
33:23But it was like the most desperate, saddest,
33:29I'm-hanging-on-for-dear-life hug that you could ever get.
33:33Sobbing.
33:34Deep, hitching sobs.
33:36And leaving literally a patch of wetness on the shoulder of my suit
33:41that soaked through to the shirt.
33:44Went through the jacket and shirt of tears.
33:51I'd never seen Chris show emotion before.
33:54You know, of course it affected all of us.
33:56But I just think it affected Chris just, like, so much more.
34:00It affected Chris like a spouse or something.
34:13When Eddie passed away, not only did it end Chris and Eddie's relationship,
34:17but a lot of ways it kind of ended mine with him too.
34:19I think he just became more and more of a hermit and didn't want to see people that he knew.
34:26I remember seeing him at Eddie's funeral and the WWE guys had to leave right after the funeral to fly
34:32to Europe.
34:32You have Chris who has this horrible damage done to him where he's crying, sobbing, the lowest point of his
34:39life.
34:40And as soon as the funeral's done, he goes on a plane and flies to Europe to wrestle.
34:43I didn't get that.
34:45You know, I thought if there's ever a time to take some time off or to give someone some time
34:50off,
34:50I think Chris needed to be away from stuff for a while.
34:55But I think he just continued on because he didn't know what else to do.
34:58He didn't handle it well. Let me just say it like that.
35:04I was in bed, like, for the first week after we buried Eddie.
35:08And Nancy was the first one at the house.
35:10And she helped me with everything.
35:13I mean, she was the one who was making sure that the kids were fit.
35:16And finally she just, like, walked in my room and she's like, enough.
35:20She goes, enough. Get up and shower.
35:23Get up because you have two girls that still love you and they need you.
35:26And I didn't want to do anything.
35:29And she threw me in the shower.
35:32She got the girls dressed.
35:34And she goes, we're going to lunch.
35:37She was my angel in so many ways.
35:42She just immediately went into planning mode.
35:44I'm going to help with this and I'm going to do that.
35:46And, I mean, she just, that was her knee jerk reaction to grief and heartache.
35:50But Chris locked down.
35:56And Nancy stayed with me for a month after Eddie passed away.
35:59And Chris would come in when they were off.
36:02And I would find Chris on Eddie's side of his bed.
36:05And Chris would just be laying there crying, holding Eddie's pillow.
36:09Eddie had a beautiful gym upstairs.
36:11And I would go upstairs and the girls would come down and they would say, Mom, Chris is crying again.
36:21And I would go to the gym and Chris would just be sitting on the bench just crying.
36:26He goes, I'm lost without Eddie being here.
36:29To see him just crying in my arms, it was very emotional.
36:34Here's this big, strong man who was tough and quiet and strong.
36:40He broke my heart.
36:42You know, but then you see Chris, you know, around the other wrestlers or in a meeting and he had
36:47his face on.
36:48So professional, like you wouldn't even think that anything was bothering him.
36:52But Chris was getting more and more distant where he was not being seen as much backstage.
36:58You know, where I couldn't find him.
36:59Like Nancy would call me and be like, how's Chris doing today?
37:01And I said, well, I haven't seen him.
37:03She talked to me about it several times.
37:05She was like, there's something going on.
37:07And I don't know what it is.
37:09You got to tell me if you notice something.
37:11And I was like, yeah, is there something up?
37:14He just seemed different.
37:15He was talking more about other wrestlers that had had children kidnapped and fans that went sideways
37:20and were violent.
37:22He used to take different cars and different ways to the gym that we had been going to for years.
37:30It was super random.
37:33He just didn't want to be places and be seen.
37:36There was a level of paranoia we had never, ever seen before.
37:40Nancy started getting really worried.
37:42She's like, I'm really worried for Chris.
37:44This is really affecting him in so many ways.
37:47He was just sad all the time and depressed.
37:49He was impatient.
37:51There was a lot of fighting going on for reasons that she didn't understand why he would be upset.
37:55And she would just be like, life is just really hard right now.
37:58Like, Chris is just irritable and he doesn't want to talk to me.
38:02He's mad all the time.
38:03You know, he was just mad at life in general.
38:06There were a few months where he completely closed off, not really even talking to Nancy,
38:11not really talking to anyone.
38:12So we got Chris a journal so that he could write to Eddie.
38:17I think that after we got him that journal is when he started opening up a little bit more.
38:23Because writing to him, he started feeling like maybe Eddie was with him in spirit or in heart by just
38:30being able to talk to him every day.
38:37That last year, she didn't think that it was healthy physically or mentally for him to be on the road
38:46and doing so much work in the same places that he and his best friend used to be and do
38:52things together.
38:53I remember talking to him and he's like, every building I go to, all I could do is think of
38:57Eddie.
38:58Okay, we're in Kansas City. Last time I was here, Eddie was here.
39:00And now we're in New Mexico. Last time I was here, Eddie was here.
39:03I think all of those things were kind of signs that something really serious was going on with him.
39:09He was so grief-stricken on a monumental level that she thought that staying in the company and staying in
39:16the business was going to eventually harm his well-being.
39:26It's Saturday night. We're going to Laredo, Texas. We're doing the Texas Loop.
39:31I get to Laredo and Chris, myself, and Scott Armstrong are going to ride together.
39:38And then later I get a call from Chris and he goes, oh man, I'm not going to make it.
39:43I go, what's wrong? He goes, oh, Daniel and Nancy have food poisoning and I'm just trying to take care
39:50of them.
39:51And I'm like, oh man, are you good? You all right?
39:53And he's like, yeah, yeah, I'm okay, I'm okay.
39:56I said, well, tomorrow we're in Houston for the pay-per-view.
39:58So he goes, okay, okay, great.
40:00I said, okay, man. And he goes, chavo, chavo.
40:04I go, yeah? And he goes, I love you.
40:08And I'm like, okay, brother, I love you too, man.
40:11Hmm. That was weird.
40:13And I go, are you okay? He's like, yeah, I'm okay, man.
40:16Just, you know, just, I'm just really tired.
40:18And I said, okay, man. Okay, well, you're gonna call me if you need to get any problem.
40:21Okay, well, I will. So then, that's it.
40:26About 5.30 in the morning, I get a text and it was from Chris's phone.
40:31And it said, the dogs are in the enclosed pool area and the back door is open.
40:39So I'm half asleep and I see this text and I'm like, the heck is that?
40:44All of a sudden, 30 seconds later, I get another text from Nancy's phone.
40:48And it says the exact same thing.
40:50And I was like, what? That's weird.
40:52I get another text right afterwards.
40:54It tells me his physical address. What is that?
40:57So I disregarded thinking, I'm picking Chris up in three hours.
41:01At the airport.
41:03So then, yeah, I meet Scott downstairs.
41:05We go get breakfast and I talk to him.
41:07I go, hey man, did you get a weird text from Chris?
41:09And he goes, yeah, I did.
41:11I said, what did it say?
41:13And he said the exact same thing.
41:15We drive to Corpus Christi for the next show.
41:17Still no word from Chris.
41:20So the head of talent relations, Johnny Ace,
41:22asked me, hey child, have you heard from Chris?
41:24And I said, no.
41:25I said, but look, Johnny, and I break up my phone and I show him.
41:28These are the texts that I got from Chris yesterday.
41:31And Johnny in his raspy voice is like,
41:32Chavo, why didn't you show us these yesterday?
41:35And I'm like, look, man, we were covering for Chris.
41:37We didn't know where he was.
41:38You didn't know where he was.
41:39The office is starting to get concerned
41:41because it was getting to be like 1, 2, 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
41:44So Vince McMahon has sent a wellness check to his house.
41:49My name is Dennis Fagan.
41:50I run the security for World Wrestling.
41:52And one of our wrestlers that lives down there is missing.
41:54We need a welfare check done.
41:55And what's his name?
41:57Chris Benoit.
41:58It's spelled B-E-N-O-I-T.
42:01OK.
42:01And he's a wrestler.
42:04So Vince McMahon calls a meeting at the ring.
42:09Dean Malenko sitting next to me, I just had this really bad feeling.
42:14Dean's like, there's something wrong.
42:16Something is not right.
42:18That's when Vince McMahon stands up at the ring and says,
42:21we just got word that Chris Benoit, Nancy, and Daniel have all passed away.
42:30And the gasps, of course, around the ring.
42:34I remember Vicki because she just let out this hurling scream.
42:39I freaked out and I started crying.
42:42And Dean kind of stood up and he grabbed my hand and he took me off to the back.
42:48So then Vince is backstage and I walk up to Vince and I said,
42:52what happened? What happened?
42:52And I'm a little frantic.
42:54And he says, they're gone.
42:56I said, what do you mean they're gone?
42:56And he hugs me super tight.
43:00And my head's on his shoulder, like crying to Vince.
43:03Like, no, no, no.
43:05Like, what happened?
43:06I don't understand.
43:06I don't understand.
43:08Nobody understood because no one knew the details yet.
43:10I didn't know what was going on.
43:12But I heard enough to know that something's not right.
43:15If you would have lined up a hundred people against the wall
43:18and said, name one that's going to kill his family.
43:22How can this be?
43:24Like, how could he have done this?
43:26Because he fooled us all.
43:32I went from just being a regular welfare chick.
43:35Okay, we've got something more serious here.
43:37I came out of the theater and I turned my phone on and I had like 22 missed calls from
43:41my parents.
43:41The cop told me that they all passed away over the weekend.
43:47You didn't want to believe it.
43:49You didn't want to believe it.
43:49Can't believe it.
43:50Can't be true.
43:51But it was.
43:52The act of what he did is unthinkable.
43:57Unforgivable.
43:57Because of course he went on and trying to figure some way.
43:59No,'m not a people I haven't knew about.
44:05I've been told.
44:05But your semanas hasn't said nothing.
44:05So
44:05And I thought quickly, of course.
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